0:01Skip to 0 minutes and 1 secondWhen you are the youngest person in the room, how can you make your voice heard? Well, I'll start with an example. As a young barrister, I walked into a courtroom where a judge was sitting who had a reputation for being really horrible to young barristers. And I let that consume me, and quite frankly, I let it beat me. I lost the argument, and I left the courtroom with my tail between my legs. After I did that, I resolved never to do that again, and I can't remember doing it again. And so I'll give you some tips as to how to deal with that situation. The first, I'd say, is to listen what's going on in that room.

0:45Skip to 0 minutes and 45 secondsSo if you're the youngest person in the room, and there are elderly people, people who are older, more experienced than you, just listen to what's going on. The second thing I would say is feel the temperature of the room. And by that I mean, understand what's going on, understand the people that you are dealing with and what makes them tick, what they're going to like, what they're not going to like, so that you can address it, as you present whatever it is you have to say. Which brings me to my third point, your presentation is as important as your content.

1:20Skip to 1 minute and 20 secondsIt's really important, because if people are used to receiving information in a certain way, it's probably going to be the case that they're only going to hear and act on that information, if it's presented in the way that it is best conducive to them. Finally, I would say, don't allow them to take your power, in your own mind. Nobody's going to physically come to you and take your power, but the fear of presenting to them, or being in that room, or being heard, may actually reduce your own power, in your own mind. Don't allow that to happen, because if you do, you may lose before you've even begun.

Making yourself heard

As we begin to travel the world, touch down in new places, and start to operate in new environments we need to quickly build relationships and understand the dynamics of where we are working. It is important to start off on a strong footing.

However in these situations sometimes it can feel that we are not being heard as effectively as we could be.

When things are very new to us how do we best integrate into a new setting as quickly as possible? What are some of your top tips?